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Art is a private thing, the artist makes it for himself; a comprehensible work is the product of a journalist. We need works that are strong, straight, precise, and forever beyond understanding.
Kenneth Tynan
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Art is created for personal expression, while comprehensible work serves informative purposes.

Kenneth Tynan emphasizes the intrinsic nature of art as a personal endeavor meant for the artist's own satisfaction rather than for public consumption. He suggests that true artistry transcends simple understanding, advocating for works that evoke deeper emotions and thoughts, rather than merely conveying information clearly and accessibly.

Themes

ArtExpressionUnderstandingCreativityIndividuality

In practice

Example use cases

During an art exhibition, I quoted Tynan to emphasize the personal journey of the artists.

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It is Ireland's sacred duty to send over, every few years, a playwright to save the English theater from inarticulate glumness.
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Drama criticism ... is a self-knowing account of the way in which one's consciousness has been modified during an evening at the theatre.
Kenneth TynanRead

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Quote by Kenneth Tynan | QuoteProject